But now he's vowed to give up eating altogether in a bizarre protest against Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, saying he won't take a bite until the veteran GOP senator agrees to take part in a televised debate ahead of the state's June primary.FULL POST

(CNN) - While Richard Mourdock knocked out the Senate's most senior Republican in Tuesday's Indiana primary, a GOP candidate in Utah is hoping to do the same to the second longest-serving Senate Republican: Orrin Hatch.

Dan Liljenquist, the former state senator challenging Hatch, quickly fired out a statement Tuesday night, praising Mourdock's win and pushing for a repeat for conservative Republicans in Utah's GOP primary this June.FULL POST

(CNN) - Utah Republicans forced Orrin Hatch into a June primary for the U.S. Senate seat he has held since 1976 as Hatch fell short of winning the party’s nomination for a seventh term Saturday.

Hatch came within 42 votes of winning the nomination outright at the state’s GOP convention, but ultimately missed the 60% support needed to avoid a primary. He will face former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist, one of nine challengers who tried to oust him, on June 26.FULL POST

(CNN) - Sen. Orrin Hatch's political future rests in the hands of 4,000 delegates who will select the party's nominee at Saturday's state Republican convention.

In the last year, the six-term incumbent spent millions of dollars to fend off challenges from candidates and outside groups seeking to drive him out of the Senate - a fate that so far looks unlikely for Hatch.FULL POST

(CNN) - Two years after Republican Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah was defeated in his bid for renomination at the GOP's state convention, Sen. Orrin Hatch faces the same test.

But a new statewide poll of Republicans indicates the outcome from Saturday's Utah GOP state party convention could be very different from April 2010, when Bennett came in third. He lost out to two more conservative tea party backed candidates, which denied him a chance to run for renomination in the Republican primary.FULL POST